Welcome to Our Black Ancestry!

Our Black Ancestry Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources for African American genealogical research, preserving historic materials and properties, and promoting the healing of wounds that are the legacy of slavery. Our primary activity is sponsorship of this Our Black Ancestry (OBA) website and member portal.

We help you explore family history and culture for 12+ million people kidnapped from Africa, approximately 500,000 of whom were brought to what is now the United States. Upon Emancipation, our ancestors numbered 4 million people. Today, we are a community that is 42 million strong.

OBA believes we "empower our future by honoring our past" -- thus contributing to a legacy that goes beyond the recording of names, dates and places into the realm of using genealogy to promote positive community and family values. Through our efforts, we hope to reunite as many African descended people as possible to their family roots. We do this by combining the efforts of African American researchers along with those of descendants of the people who enslaved us.

Some of our website is available to the public for FREE, however, we ask that you consider donating to our efforts. If you want to be more deeply involved, we encourage you to become a member, which costs $25 per year.

Members receive many benefits, including a personal profile page, access to surname searches, DNA matching, member forums, resource links, email updates, and discount offers on products and services. One of the greatest benefits is PRIVACY. We will not use, share or profit from anything you contribute to our site.

What you will find in the PUBLIC space:

WEBSITE -- Compendium of information that is updated frequently

TUTORIAL -- Instructions for family historians who are just getting started

FACEBOOK -- Peer community for sharing information

YOU TUBE -- Videos relevant to African American genealogy

BLOG -- Research techniques & musings

EVENTS -- Activities, trainings, meet-ups & special offers

MARKETPLACE -- Merchandise relevant to genealogy researchers

In the MEMBER space, you get MUCH MORE!

MEMBER PROFILES -- With searchable surnames & DNA test links

RESOURCES --​Links to resources pertinent to family history research

SLAVEHOLDERS -- Database of large slaveholder surnames

CONNECTIONS -- Descendants of slaveholders looking to connect

FORUMS -- Special interest groups on a wide variety of topics

Become a Member!

Create a personal member profile, connect with others who are researching your family surnames, share DNA results, participate in forums, view hidden files, and participate in many other benefits.